Duster



E. D. STUVEL May 7, 1957 DusTER Filed Juiy e, 1955 DUSTER Bernard D. Stuvel, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application July 6, 1955, Serial No. 520,200

3 Claims. (Cl. 15-118) This invention relates to a duster of a construction which may be employed for dusting flat surfaces, but primarily for engaging and dusting both sides of a slat in a Venetian blind. The structure embodying the invention involves an elastic generally U-shaped holder to which is secured .at the free ends thereof a relatively soft material such as strands of yarn, whereby the free ends of the frame may be pressed one toward the other in the hand of an operator to grip therebetween the slat of a blind, and further involves the positioning of yarn around the bend of the frame whereby that portion may be employed with a substantially elongated area to dust at surfaces and the like.

A primary advantage of the invention resides in the fact that the structure embodying the invention may be operated by gripping it within ones hand to squeeze the structure one member toward the other to apply a cornpressive rubbing effect to both sides of the slat band simultaneously, and upon removal from that engagement the members of the frame will elastically spread apart so that the structure may be brought up to an adjacent or like slat and applied thereto for subsequent operations.

A still further important advantage of the invention resides in the unique manner of attaching the dusting element or elements to the frame in such manner that these elements may be readily removed for cleaning or replacement without having to discard the supporting frame. Furthermore this means for carrying the dusting elements may be applied to and removed from the frame without having to rip seams, or destroy the dusting element carrying member in any respect whatsoever. The entire dust element carrying device as well as the dusting elements themselves may be readily cleaned and reused time and time again.

These and many other objects and advantages of the invention including its easy manipulation as well as a relatively low cost of production, will become apparent to those versed in the art in the following description of one particular form of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. l is a View in top plan of a structure embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a more or less diagrammatic view in crosssection on the line 2-2 in Fig. l, and on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation and partial section on an enlarged scale of the means for retaining and releasing the dusting element carrying medium.

A frame structure is formed of a one-piece, strap material having a considerable degree of elasticity. This mate rial may be made out of a synthetic plastic material, although it is preferably made out of metal such as an aluminum alloy or of steel.

In the form herein shown, the frame has two legs and 11 each of a suitable length such for example, without limitation, of around twelve inches. These legs 10 and 11 are integrally united through a loop or bowed length of the frame material. This loop generally desig- ,Uid Sees Pam@ nated by the number 12 is approximately U-shaped, but may deviate from that exact shape to be somewhat lheartshaped as indicated in Fig. l whereby there may be had aA greater extent of area bounded within the loop, and also more resiliency be had in the manipulation of the two legs 10 and 11 as will hereinafter become more apparent.

A fabric sheath 13 is formed initially in a flat tape to which is secured or stitched a large number of loops of yarn 14 at one end of the tape and 15 at the other end of the tape. Throughout an intermediate length of the tape or sheath 13, there is stitched an extended number of loops of the yarn 16 so that this extent of yarn 16 will extend substantially an equal distance from each side of the central zone of the sheath 13. After the attaching of the yarn to that member 13, it is then brought together by its lateral edge portions, Fig. 2, and stitched together as at 24 so as to form a tubular length, these two edge portions being designated by the numerals 25 and 26 respectively.

The sheath 13 thus formed is also closed at one end 17, Fig. l, as well asbeing closed at an opposite end 18. On one end portion of the sheath 13, spaced from the end 18 for example, there is provided an opening through the sheath, this opening being designated by the numeral 19, and this opening 19 further being of that extent which will permit the end of one of the legs, leg 11 for example, to be inserted therethrough and pushed around into the sheath until the entire sheath is carried around the frame work around the loop 12, and this opening 19 brought to the end 18 by stretching the sheath longitudinally' to permit the inside end portion 20 of the sheath to eventually rest against the end 21 of the leg 10. That is, the sheath 13 is gripped by the end portion 18 as it is pulled around the frame work until the closed end 17 strikes the end of the leg 11, and then the end 18 is continued to be pulled until the end 21 of the leg 10 disappears through the opening 19, whereupon the sheath end 18 is released to permit the natural resiliency of the material of that sheath to pull the end back longitudinally in respect to the leg 10 to have the sheath end inside 20 abut the metal end of the leg 10 as of 21.

In the same manner, to remove the sheath 13 from the metal frame work, the end 18 is pulled longitudinally outwardly along the leg 10 until the end 21 of the leg 10 appears at the window 19 whereupon the sheath 13 is bent sideways to allow the end 21 of the leg 10 to relatively come out through the window 19 as the sheath is pushed backwardly along the leg 10 and pulled o the leg 11 by pulling on the end 17. In this description, it is to be understood that the internal sizing of the sheath 13 is made to be such that it will snugly fit itself around the metal frame work appearing therewithin. Also it is to be understood that the over-all length of the sheath 13 is made to be such that the normal elasticity of the material entering into the sheath will retain the ends 17 and 1S snugly and compressibly bearing against the outer free ends of the legs 10 and 11. In this respect, the material of the sheath 13 may vary considerably, as long as that resiliency is preserved, and while materials in the nature of cotton duck work very well, obviously other materials may be substituted therefor.

The structure will normally appear in somewhat that shape and condition as indicated in Fig. l, with the possibility that the legs l0 and 11 may eventually be diverted one from the other to extend diagonally rather than being in parallelism, although this is somewhat immaterial as long as the legs lil and 11 are so initially positioned as to provide a spacing between the yarns 14 and 15, such as is indicated by the numeral 22, Fig. 1. The duster is gripped by the operators hand by extending the thumb and lingers respectively around the legs 11 and 10 and Y 3 i then the yarns 14 and 15 are brought up over opposite sides of a slat of a Venetian blind and the two legs 10 and 11 compressibly urged one toward the other so as Yto apply pressure on `both sides of the blind slat through the yarns 14 and 15 whereupon the dusters are carried longitudinally of the slut. Removing pressure against the legs 10 and 11 will permit the yarns 14 and 15 to spread apart so as to permit easy removal of the duster from engagement with the Slat.

Also the yarn 16 taking the shape approximately as indicated in Fig. l, may` be used to dust surfaces to which `there may be openings, and this is done still by gripping the leg portions 10 and 11 between the yarn lengths 14, 15 and 16 so that the yarn 16 may be moved over the area being dusted. Theelasticity of the legs 10 and 11 even aid in this regard as to the use of the yarn 16 because the legs 10 and 1l firmly seat themselves within `the operators hand so as to permit easy guiding of the yarn 16 over the surface particularly when such surfaces are not llat but may be curved, or may be in out of the way places where the entire cluster has to be revolved somewhat longitudinally in respect to the legs 10 and 11.

Therefore it is to be seen that l have produced a very simple, and yet most effective duster for the purposes intended, and have done so in a manner permitting the dusting surfaces to be readily removed at will for washing or cleaning and then returned to the frame.

While l have described my invention in the one particular form as now best known to me, it is obvious that structural changes may be made as well as changes in materials indicated, all without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be limited to that precise form beyond the limitations which may be imposed by the following claims.

I claim:

l. A duster comprising in combination a generally U- shaped, highly elastic holder defined by a pair of spaced Vapart legs interconnected by a bowed length at corre- :spending leg ends, leaving the legs free one from the other at their other ends; a attened, tubular tape member completely eneasing said holder, said tape being fixedly closed across its ends, said tape having a transverse opening spaced from but adjacent to one of its ends; said tape being coextensive with the lengths of said legs and said bowed length, the ends of the tape abutting and extending across the said other ends of the legs and said tape being elastic sufficient to retain said abutment with said opening spaced from the end of the leg thereadjacent, said tape being stretched to bring said opening over said leg and enter therethrough to allow the tape to be pushed back along the holder for removal; and a dusting medium carried by said tape along lengths of said legs adjacent their said other, free ends.

2. The structure of claim 1 in which said legs initially ieave said bowed length in spaced apart distance less than a maximum transverse distance across the bowed length thereby providing a spacing apart of the legs for convenient gripping of both legs within the hand of an operator, said bowed length atlording an abutment for said hands in shifting along the legs from their free ends.

3. The structure of claim 1 in which said dusting medium extends along said tape around said bowed length, the tape being free of said medium outwardly from the bowed length to said first medium at the outer ends of said legs, providing a hand gripping Zone free of said medium on said legs, resisting slippage of the hand along the tape.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,121,008 Glass Dec. 15, 1914 1,230,476 Gilmore June 19, 1917 1,600,714 Cabana Sept. 2l, 1926 FOREIGN PATENTS 148,363 Australia Sept. 24, 1952 183.417 Great Britain Jan. 11, 1923 fl ,i 

